Archie Publications is relaunching “Archie” in July 2015 with a new focus–bringing him and all of our favorite Riverdale characters into the 21st century. While I have been a fan of Archie since I was a kid, he was never a character that I ever thought I would paint. I tend to be more into the sci-fi/fantasy/horror comics genre, and Archie tended towards the more cartoony style. But with this change from Archie’s editors to bring a new look, I took the opportunity from M&M Comics (the retailer I

did the wildly successful Marvel Comics Star Wars #1 Variant cover with) to produce a more realistically painted cover for Archie #1. It was great fun and a great honor to make this comics icon look like he stepped into the real world.

This M&M Retailer Variant will only be available from myself and M&M Comics. The book will hit the stands on July 8; however, I am offering a pre-release sale of the Archie Variant #1 Comic Book. You can order the book directly from me, bagged and boarded, and PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED by me. The cost of the book is $15 plus $5 shipping. You can order as many as you like. AND AS AN EXTRA BONUS, only available through direct ordering from me, you will receive an EXCLUSIVE mini-print of the original pencil version of the cover art, also signed by me. This print will not be offered anywhere else. This edition is limited to ONLY 1,750 copies (and I only have a portion of these to sell personally) so please do not hesitate to order if you would like your own copy for your collection.

I will ship the orders out the week of July 13 (as I will be at San Diego Comic ConBooth #4500 during the store release) and you will receive a tracking number when your order goes out. Thanks again for your support of my work and for sharing in this very fun and unexpected project with me!

ARCHIE Comics has just revealed all of their Variant ARCHIE #1 covers. I am happy to say M&M Comics had me do the art for their shop’s variant! (We worked together on the MarvelSTAR WARS #1Variant as well!!) So, I am now able to post the artwork for all of you to see!

ARCHIE COMICS Variant Cover #1 from Dave Dorman for M&M Comics

It was a whole lot of fun working on this cover and great to be able to give ARCHIE a more realistic look for his fans. He and the gang at Riverdale are such famous pop culture icons, and I hope I did him justice. Both M&M Comics and I will be offering this Limited Edition Book for sale. Keep your eyes here for an announcement coming very soon! And please enjoy “something completely different” from the Studio of Dave!

If you would like to connect with me on social media, here’s where you can find me:

Denise found that Behind the Panelshad mentioned my Lantern City variant cover for Boom! Studios as one of the Top Covers for May 2015, so I am sharing that with you here. If you haven’t heard of Lantern City, do check it out – it’s Bruce Boxleitner’s very cool, gorgeously rendered world – a Steampunk action adventure tale. Here is the variant cover art for you. Let me know what you think of it.

I did the artwork for my friend’s podcast – here is information on it for my fellow STAR WARS fans:

The show is It’s a Trap! with original artwork created by Dave Dorman and is meant to discuss each piece of the new Disney approved standard of Star Wars Canon with an eye to point out anything new being brought in from the now Legend-s story arc. We hope to reach people that want to know what happens, but don’t have the time to read/watch, or people that have already consumed the story and want to hear our thoughts, what we caught, and hopefully might be willing to let us know what we missed! We are committed to putting out at least fortnightly until such a time as our listeners make us move to a weekly production format.

For those who missed it, or were disappointed that the issue was sold out…GOOD NEWS!!I have received another shipment of the Marvel Variant STAR WARS books and have a few more to sell.

Here’s the spiel again!

This is the variant produced by M&M Comics and limited to 3000. This number makes it one of the scarcest variants on the market.(And a personal thanks goes out to Mike at M&M for having me paint this cover!)

I am now selling my variant cover issue for $25 including postage and insurance.

BUT WAIT!!!…There’s more! You not only get a mint copy of this book signed by me, (bagged and boarded), but I will also include in your package one additional item from my personal vault of collectibles.These will be all Star Wars items (signed of course) that may include convention programs, signature cards, trading cards, bookmarks, or other collectibles from my files, dating back almost 30 years. Most of these extras are hard to find and will make a fun addition to your Dorman Star Wars collection (like a mini-Dorman LootCrate!)

I have a very limited number of these so please do not hesitate in ordering. I must limit the purchase to one copy per person. I will remove the page when I have sold out. (It is possible I may get more in the future, but that is not guaranteed).

SHOW APPEARANCE NEWS:

Thanks to all of you who saw me at Pensacon – a wonderful show! Coming up, I’ll be in South Carolina for SC Con in Greenville, SC March 20th weekend, Big Wow Con in San Jose in April 18 and 19 (and happy to see Jim Steranko there again).C2E2 in Chicago April 24 – 26, joined by the team from Artifact, creators of a fun new game for which I’m doing the art that launches at C2E2. Watch for more info on that!

My Star Wars Marvel Comics variant cover for M&M Comics came in the mail today, so here’s my first look at it:

My New Star Wars variant cover for Marvel/retailer M&M Comics

If you’re not one of the 5k people already following me on my personal Facebook page, you might enjoy seeing my new “Art Director” as Denise calls her – our newest addition to the family, Jonesy the Cat. Yes, she is a Sphinx/Hairless Cat, to accommodate the allergy sufferers in our household (not me).

Me and my new “Art Director.”

And speaking of science fiction-related stuff, I’ve been chatting with Facebook friends about how excited I am to see Philip K. Dick’s “The Man in the High Castle,” which is available online now, I believe, for free. It imagines what life would be like if the Nazis had been successful in overtaking the U.S. After I read it, I was unhappy with the book cover because it didn’t really represent what the book was about, so back in the 1980s, I painted this one:

My 1980s painting inspired by Philip K. Dick

Dave Dorman Official 2015 Appearance Schedule (So Far):

January 29 – 31 = Salt Lake City Con

February 21 – 22 = I’m teaching a class at the International School of Comics in Chicago

Also, I should mention that Denise and I are mentioned (with some of my art) in the new issue of Imagine F/X magazine for January 2015, if you happen to pick it up. And here is a link to pick up my WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS, published by Magnetic Press, if you are interested in dystopian action adventure in another world similar to ours – it’s my creator-owned I.P. and my favorite thing I’ve ever worked on, which is saying a lot!

Collectors: If you want me to bring anything specific, please ping denise@writebrainmedia.com immediately with your specific requests and I’ll do my best to bring what you need; I’ll be busy packing up for the show. I look forward to seeing you!